Thursday, August 29, 2013

Favorite B Flicks




We at Astro Al are made of B movies.

What is a B Movie? Well if you don’t know, honestly you probably shouldn’t read this blog. No offense.

So what B movies make up our DNA? Well about a gazillion.

Of course there’s the obvious, Plan 9 and Ed Wood’s wonderful flimatic ilk.

But there’s also the other stuff…
Like, Something Weird. Check out the trailer for this brilliant strange fest.

Godzilla vs the Smog Monster. Giant radioactive environmentally conscious dinosaurs fight waste product monsters with a hippy soundtrack? Yes that sounds great to us!

So dig your way through some fun B flicks and let them mutate you as they may. Who knows maybe after watching a few you’ll want to start your own B movie band.

Yours in cinematic garbage,
Count Robot

Sunday, August 18, 2013

A. Lee Martinez is Awesome


Dudettes and dudes it’s as simple as this, A. Lee Martinez is an awesome writer.

For those who don’t this wonderfully talented scribe, he’s written ten novels. His books include the Automatic Detective (it’s about a robot detective in a future city who’s best friend is a talking gorilla who drives a cab), Monster (this one tells the tale of a guy named Monster who catches monsters for a living), and Gil’s All Fright Diner (which follows the adventures of a vampire and his redneck werewolf companion who must deal with undead cows and a demonic magic eight ball).

Why do I dig his stuff so?

The wit, the inventiveness, the willingness to play around with formula, the fact that they are not part of a series or ongoing universe, all these things and the simple fact that, he is a good writer.
His books aren’t any longer than they need to be. The endings are well executed and fit the flow of the books. Sometimes they are happy and uplifting, sometimes not so much, but again they all work in the context of the novels style.
My two favorites of all his work thus far are Chasing the Moon and A Nameless Witch.
But here is one of the coolest things about his books. None of his books are bad. Most writers by the time they hit ten books have at least one or two weak entries. Not one of his books is even close to poor. That is one impressive feat and thus far they have all had different flows, themes, and ideas. Sure of course his style carries across his material but hey isn’t that what style is all about? And when you’re writing about demonic ducks, trampy angels, and Lovecraftian insanity that is some awesome style to have shine on.

So go get reading the good stuff! The A. Lee Martinez stuff!

Yours in outstanding literature,
Count Robot

Friday, August 2, 2013

Inspirations



There are so many for us. Astro Al is a blender of psychedelia and a sonic forge of stupidity.

The Doors. The strange lyrics the blend of lead keys and lead guitars jazz drums. They had it man.

Syd and his childlike lenses of words.

Robyn Hitchcock. Fun and seriously funny and profoundly profound in an amusing way. There is nothing wrong with a witty phrase.


And of course no can William Shatner like William Shatner.


Yours in reflected oddity,
Count Robot